Verb (used with object) : to ply the needle. ,to ply a trade. ,to ply a fire with fresh fuel. ,to ply horses with a whip. ,to ply a person with drink. ,boats that ply the Mississippi.    From Dictionary.com. 

Verb (used without object) : to ply with the oars; to ply at a trade.    From Dictionary.com. 

Noun : single ply.    From Dictionary.com. 

He plies hand-stones and his playing-club on them.    From Wordnik.com.  [Táin Bó Cúalnge. English] Reference

And plies his oars where late he plough'd the plains.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Vols. I & II] Reference

The different plies need not be the same weight of paper.    From Wordnik.com.  [3 Packaging materials] Reference

A steamer plies on the lake carrying mail and passengers.    From Wordnik.com.  [Wealth of the World's Waste Places and Oceania] Reference

But they do have a problem getting rid of all these plies.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Feb 13, 2007] Reference

He plies him with golf balls and golf instructional videos.    From Wordnik.com.  [Little White-Coat Lies] Reference

The boatman plies the splashing oar, but well I love the hook.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volume V. The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century] Reference

MCKENZIE: But he still plies his trade from Mombasa to Mogadishu.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Oct 3, 2008] Reference

MCKENZIE: But he still plies his trade from Mombassa to Mogadishu.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Oct 1, 2008] Reference

We were seated in the saloon of a small steamer which plies between.    From Wordnik.com.  [O. Henry Memorial Award Prize Stories of 1921] Reference

"Whereabouts he plies his trade, namely anywhere but in my vicinity.".    From Wordnik.com.  [The First Man in Rome]

The plastic acts as a moisture barrier and the outer plies resist tearing.    From Wordnik.com.  [1. Amount of Food Required] Reference

The cutting of panels shall be practised on chipboards, fibreboards and plies.    From Wordnik.com.  [Chapter 6] Reference

A solitary raft plies the Li River in the Guilin-Yangshuo area of southern China.    From Wordnik.com.  [Tiananmen Square 1989 and China in Turmoil] Reference

A pretty little steamer plies three times a-day between the towns of Melbourne and.    From Wordnik.com.  [Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 55, No. 340, February, 1844] Reference

We would also advise the four-ply flannel bandage, with two plies damp and two dry.    From Wordnik.com.  [Papers on Health] Reference

The lady conceals her anger, plies him with wine, and slays him in his drunken sleep.    From Wordnik.com.  [Ballads of Mystery and Miracle and Fyttes of Mirth Popular Ballads of the Olden Times - Second Series] Reference

From Lake City a steamer usually plies to all interesting points, up and down the lake.    From Wordnik.com.  [Minnesota; Its Character and Climate Likewise Sketches of Other Resorts Favorable to Invalids; Together With Copious Notes on Health; Also Hints to Tourists and Emigrants.] Reference

He plies them with questions, indulges in literary criticism, and asks for a recitation.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Contemporary Review, January 1883 Vol 43, No. 1] Reference

Thicker layers have to be removed by several plies, so that the chips roll off more easily.    From Wordnik.com.  [4. Operation and techniques of chipping] Reference

Such a workman plies his handiwork at his own house, teaching his sons the secrets of his trade.    From Wordnik.com.  [Lippincott's Magazine, Vol. 22, September, 1878] Reference

Or plies his trade in some Pleistocene-era, dead-end job where a cute little laptop doesn't apply.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Luddite: If You Build It, Don't Be So Sure They Will Come] Reference

Fodder trees must produce adequate sup plies of viable seed, or be easily propagated by vegetative methods.    From Wordnik.com.  [Chapter 3] Reference

When cutting off adherent residues of material made of wood or plies, the appropriate working method depends on.    From Wordnik.com.  [6. Ripping of Faces, Edges and Corners] Reference

He plies a visitor with several tracts on climate trends and laments America's insatiable thirst for fossil fuels.    From Wordnik.com.  [A Mightier Wind] Reference

On market days he lounges in the sunshine, wrapped in his long sheepskin cape, and smokes, while she plies the trade.    From Wordnik.com.  [Woman as Decoration] Reference

It's like a dancer who begins every day with demi-plies, the same steps the dancer did when he or she was 6 years old.    From Wordnik.com.  [CNN Transcript Dec 27, 2002] Reference

Costa Allegra, plies these waters all the time and so conveniently has her name printed in Chinese characters on the bow.    From Wordnik.com.  [Jaunted - The Pop Culture Travel Guide] Reference

As the outer sides must have uniform strength and moisture movement properties, there must always be an odd number of plies.    From Wordnik.com.  [Chapter 4] Reference

Rope had almost as many characteristics as fingerprints: type of twist, turns per inch, number of plies, filament attributes.    From Wordnik.com.  [Dance Of Death]

The strolling musician or singer, who may be heard every night in other parts of the city, never plies his trade on the piazza.    From Wordnik.com.  [Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 15, No. 85, January, 1875] Reference

Accordingly he plies the rock with his knife, cutting places for his hands and feet, and gradually ascended with incredible labour.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Book of Enterprise and Adventure Being an Excitement to Reading. for Young People. a New and Condensed Edition.] Reference

She moves in august majesty, a sore-tried queen, and leaps in merry laughter as a care-free slave; pipes, sings and plies the distaff.    From Wordnik.com.  [Woman as Decoration] Reference

He plies a visitor with academic tracts on grape growing, with such esoteric titles as "Analysis of Oak Volatility on Gas Chromatography.".    From Wordnik.com.  [The Rebel Vintner] Reference

A ferry plies between the steamer quay, just beyond Alexandra Gardens and the Nothe, the headland extremity of the peninsula upon which old.    From Wordnik.com.  [Wanderings in Wessex An Exploration of the Southern Realm from Itchen to Otter] Reference